APFNet provided trainers with on-site opportunity to learn community forestry and its training in Nepal
Community forestry (CF), proved as an effective tool in sustainably managing forests, take different forms in practice across the Asia-Pacific region. Among them, Nepal is regarded as one of the leading examples of successful community-based forest management after decades of deforestation in the latter half of twentieth century. Community Forestry User Groups (CFUGs) in Nepal have been managing their forests sustainably and made decisions by themselves, which has in a way improved their forest quality and lifted thousands of people out of poverty.
The five-day study tour was split into a two-day indoor discussion on legal and policy framework and organization of CFUGs in Nepal and three-day field session interacting with CFUGs, district managers and forestry governors. Meanwhile, participants also shared CF development and its training in their own economies ranging from legal environment and governance to forest tenure rights, community forest management plan and community-based forest enterprises, which involved everybody in a heated discussion in the poster session on day 1.
During the reflection session on the last day, Mr. Lal Abeygunasekara from Sri Lanka Forest Department said, “I gained many experiences from the field trip regarding federation of community forestry user groups; nature-based tourism activities, leasehold forestry, and wildlife park management”. He believes that the identification and empowerment of uses and user group formation is the key to success of community forestry Nepal; the guidelines prepared for Nepal community forestry development is also valuable and can apply to other economies.
From participants’ sharing during the study tour, APFNet noticed that community forestry training is facing different challenges in developing economies in the region, such as lack of technical support, limited participation of target groups of CF and few components on production and marketing of NTFPs CF. As one of participants, Ms. Smita Das, training officer of Mid-regional forest training center of Nepal, pointed out, “the challenges for community forestry training are the communities find it difficult to learn new technologies and equipment as they are used to old ones. The training center staff are supposed to be trained and provided opportunities to gather knowledge of best CF practice domestically and internationally. ”
Responding to the needs of member economies involved in APFNet initiated Trainers in Forestry Network, in collaboration with Nepal Foresters Association (NFA), APFNet organized a study tour on community forestry and its training, in Kathmandu & Kavre Districts, Nepal on 11-15 October 2017. This study tour provided on-site opportunity for participants from the region to understand the community forestry model in Nepal, discuss different approaches of community forestry training, and explore how international, domestic and local stakeholders work together. Twelve participants from twelve economies took part in the study tour.
Participants visiting a community forest located in Dhaneshwor Baikaba, Kavre District of Nepal on day 2
The five-day study tour was split into a two-day indoor discussion on legal and policy framework and organization of CFUGs in Nepal and three-day field session interacting with CFUGs, district managers and forestry governors. Meanwhile, participants also shared CF development and its training in their own economies ranging from legal environment and governance to forest tenure rights, community forest management plan and community-based forest enterprises, which involved everybody in a heated discussion in the poster session on day 1.
Participants sharing their domestic CF policies during the poster session on day 1
During the reflection session on the last day, Mr. Lal Abeygunasekara from Sri Lanka Forest Department said, “I gained many experiences from the field trip regarding federation of community forestry user groups; nature-based tourism activities, leasehold forestry, and wildlife park management”. He believes that the identification and empowerment of uses and user group formation is the key to success of community forestry Nepal; the guidelines prepared for Nepal community forestry development is also valuable and can apply to other economies.
From participants’ sharing during the study tour, APFNet noticed that community forestry training is facing different challenges in developing economies in the region, such as lack of technical support, limited participation of target groups of CF and few components on production and marketing of NTFPs CF. As one of participants, Ms. Smita Das, training officer of Mid-regional forest training center of Nepal, pointed out, “the challenges for community forestry training are the communities find it difficult to learn new technologies and equipment as they are used to old ones. The training center staff are supposed to be trained and provided opportunities to gather knowledge of best CF practice domestically and internationally. ”
